Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2336: Fortunately in Nanjing (Part )

Gao Fusi realized after a little thought that Shen Yiguan deliberately showed an overly respectful attitude, which was rare in the court. He deliberately did not call himself by his official title, such as "Shou Fu" or "Yuan Fu", but insisted on calling himself by the title of "Guo Gong". There was a deep meaning behind this move.

Gao Youshi secretly analyzed that in the Ming officialdom, titles are often more than just a simple name. They reflect the level of official position, the size of power, and the closeness of the relationship between officials. Shen Yiguan is a member of the cabinet with me as a scholar of Wenhua Palace. According to common sense, he can call me "first assistant" or "first assistant". Such a title is in line with official etiquette and can also reflect respect for my main power.

However, Shen Yikuan insisted on choosing the title of "Duke", which on the surface seemed to emphasize that my title of nobility was "superior" and to show respect for me, but in fact, it was a strategy.

By addressing him in this way, Shen Yikuan was actually reminding everyone that although I, Gao Youshi, hold a high position in the cabinet, I am also a meritorious official with the title of Duke.

In the Ming Dynasty, there has always been a clear gap between meritorious officials and civil officials, and there is also a certain balance of power. This is unavoidable. Before him, there was only one civil official in the Ming Dynasty, Li Shanchang. Moreover, Li Shanchang's end was not good.

Shen Yiquan's actions were undoubtedly a hint that my influence had gone beyond the cabinet and the customary scope of civil officials, and had touched upon the realm of meritorious officials. Of course, it could also be said the other way around, that my influence had gone beyond the scope of meritorious officials and had seriously eroded the power of civil officials.

Both the former and the latter are extremely rare in the history of the Ming Dynasty and are bound to cause some problems and contradictions. Therefore, Shen Yi always insists on using such a title, which can be regarded as a clever flattery or interpreted as a veiled warning.

In this way, Shen Yiguan not only showed his respect for me, but also reminded me invisibly that your status is different now. You have become the target of public criticism in a certain sense. I don't know how many people are watching your every move and are ready to attack you at any time. Therefore, please don't interfere too much in the affairs of the Nanjing officialdom, especially when it comes to the interests of the Xinxue School.

Haha, it's been so many years, and it's still the same. Undoubtedly, this is a typical bureaucratic power struggle, conveying complex political signals through subtle changes in words.

In the court, such confrontations are often covert and subtle, requiring officials to have sufficient political wisdom and sensitivity. Gao Youshi naturally realized this, and he knew that Shen Yiquan's abnormal behavior was not aimless, but must have a deeper intention. Therefore, when dealing with Shen Yiquan, he must also be more cautious and shrewd to ensure that his position and strategy are not used by the other party.

Against this background, Gao Youshi had just been considering whether it was necessary to investigate the renovation accounts of Chunhe Palace. Now it seemed that the problem had become a little more complicated, because through Shen Yiquan's "reminder", it seemed that he needed to take this delicate relationship in officialdom into consideration.

He must find a balance between safeguarding the interests of the imperial court and maintaining court stability, while also preventing his actions from being used by Shen Yikuan and becoming a handle for the other party to attack him.

Gao Youshi's eyes lingered over the accounts handed over by Shen Yikuan. He knew in his heart that the renovation of Chunhe Palace had been completed. No matter what the emperor's intention was, whether he had considered the corresponding consequences... these were not the problems now.

Of course, the problem now is not to stop the renovation. After all, Shen Yiguan's status when he went south was prominent enough. He came to Nanjing as a minister to supervise all related affairs, and he had a lot of power to "act first and report later". Now that the Chunhe Palace has been repaired, what is there to stop? The only thing left is how to deal with the account handed over by Shen Yiguan.

Gao Youshi knew that directly refusing to disburse the funds or questioning Shen Yikuan's accounts at this moment would undoubtedly cause an unnecessary disturbance in the court, and Shen Yikuan might seize the opportunity to bite back.

The reason is not complicated. Shen Yi Guan uses the title of "Duke" to remind himself that he has just been conferred the title of Duke and his momentum is too strong. It is best not to show off his edge now, so as not to arouse vigilance or even dissatisfaction from all parties.

  At the same time, was this Chunhe Palace built by the Emperor at his request, Lord Shen, and was specially built for you, Duke Jingguo, to live in? Not only do you not thank God for the grace, but you are investigating him as the person in charge... Duke Jingguo, are you trying to make trouble for the Emperor?

What? Being a Duke of a State doesn't satisfy you, and you want more? Do you want to enter the court without bowing, to be praised without being named, to wear a sword and shoes in the palace, or do you want to be granted the Yellow Axe, be granted the Nine Gifts, and be the chief minister?

Look, look, once the wind is directed in this direction, there is no way to discuss things properly.

"Lord Shen, since the renovation of Chunhe Palace has been completed, and you are in charge of it by imperial order, naturally no one else can interfere." Gao Youshi's voice was calm, without any emotional fluctuations. "But this account involves a large amount of silver. Since I am also the land official, I have the responsibility to ensure that every expenditure is clear and used properly. I believe Lord Shen can understand this."

Shen Yi Guan smiled slightly, as if he had anticipated Gao Youshi's reaction. "I understand the Duke's caution. Every expense on this account was made according to the Emperor's order and under the supervision of the eunuchs stationed in Nanjing. I believe that the Duke will be able to see through everything."

Gao Fusi nodded. He knew that Shen Yiguan was using the emperor's name to pressure him, but it didn't matter, because it was also an opportunity. The Buddhist scriptures are not wrong, but a monk with a crooked mouth can always read the scriptures crookedly. Who doesn't understand this truth? If he could find the impropriety in the account by reviewing it, it would not only save the treasury's expenses, but also give Shen Yiguan a warning in the court.

"In that case, Lord Shen, I will have someone carefully review this account." Gao Youshi's tone remained calm, but his determination was unquestionable: "I believe that the officials in Nanjing are loyal and will not do anything wrong. However, in order to be responsible to the emperor and the court, necessary review is still indispensable."

Shen Yiquan's eyes flashed with a gleam of light. He knew that Gao Youshi was hinting that if there was a problem in the account, he would not let it go easily. But he would not give up easily. This confrontation has just begun. If you want to investigate, then investigate it carefully. In the end, you will find that Nanjing is not like Beijing. This is not the core of your power.

"I will naturally obey the Duke's decision." Shen Yiguan bowed slightly, his attitude respectful on the surface, but there was a hint of provocation in his words: "I also believe that everyone in Nanjing will welcome the Duke's review. After all, those who are not guilty will be innocent."

Although the two were polite in their conversation and kept smiling, the competition between them was already undercurrent. Gao Youshi knew that this struggle would not be easy. Since Shen Yikuan dared to hand over the accounts, he must have made some preparations. But so what? He could not get to where he is today entirely because of the so-called foresight of a time traveler. As the chief minister of the cabinet who fought his way to the top of the civil officials on the battlefield and in the officialdom, he also had his own means and resources.

It can be imagined that in the following days, Gao Youshi will begin to secretly investigate the renovation of Chunhe Palace. He will not make a big fanfare, but will carefully check every expense in the accounts through his confidants and some reliable officials. He will ensure that every step of his actions will reveal the shadows under the accounts as much as possible without causing turmoil in the court. And Shen Yikuan will certainly not be idle. Nanjing is one of the core coverage areas of the School of Mind. Shen Yikuan's influence in the officialdom of Nanjing cannot be underestimated. He will definitely contact his own people secretly to prepare for Gao Youshi's investigation. He certainly knows that this struggle is not only to safeguard his own interests, but also for the survival space of the School of Mind in the court.

What happened in front of the Confucius Temple had already spread all over the world. The Practical School had won a great victory over the Mind School. If Shen Yongmao had not stood up and argued with reason at that time, the Mind School would have been defeated and the Lu-Wang Mind School would have completely become a rural rumor. In this case, Shen Yikuan had to stand up and do something.

In fact, when the Confucius Temple incident reached Nanjing, Shen Yiquan's first reaction was "it's over", thinking that the dispute between practical learning and mind learning was no longer suspenseful, and the practical learning school had won a complete victory. But he soon came to his senses and found that things were not that simple, but to some extent, it brought him some benefits.

The Confucius Temple Incident was indeed a heavy blow to the School of Mind, but on the one hand, the Emperor and the School of Practical Learning seemed satisfied with crippling the School of Mind rather than killing it, so that although the political characterization was extremely harsh, in fact no specific number of officials from the School of Mind were targeted.

It should even be said that the emperor and Gao Youshi did not take action against any specific person. The current situation is that although all the officials of the Xinxue School are in a panic, their positions are still firmly in place.

In other words, the mental impact was great, but the physical impact was completely negligible. This, on the contrary, brought benefits to Shen Yi Guan.

The strongest fortress is often breached from within, while internal unity often requires some external pressure. This is an extremely interesting truth and historical practice. Dialectics will never go out of date.

The Xin School is no longer a strong fortress, and even as a group, it has never been very strong (there are special analysis and descriptions in the previous chapters). In the past, the Xin School seemed powerful because it had many believers, so it had a period of great momentum.

  But what if we look at it carefully? Xu Jie was exiled by the previous emperor because he treated Gao Gong harshly. Shen Shixing was replaced by Gao Youshi because he was unable to control his subordinates. The School of Mind did get the highest power among the civil officials in name, but each time they failed to defeat the School of Practical Learning represented by the uncle and nephew of the Gao family... What went wrong?

Shen Yiquan felt that the core of the problem was that the School of Mind had never been united.

  When Xu Jie was in power, he prided himself on being aloof and self-righteous, and the followers he recruited were almost limited to the Yanlu. He used a routine of quietly hiding his strength and attacking his main opponents at the critical moment. However, he forgot that while winning over the Yanlu, he would often offend more administrative officials - the Yanlu was responsible for supervising the administration!

Therefore, once he tried to use his resignation to the emperor to gain more say for himself, once the emperor went along with it, he did not have enough charm to attract the largest number of administrative officials to petition the emperor to retain him, thus putting pressure on the emperor.

As a result, Xu Jie had no choice but to retire and return home. He was then hit hard by Gao Gong and had to give up many of his lands. Fortunately, Gao Gong was quite considerate. Seeing that the "frontline general" insisted on continuing the investigation, he simply transferred the person away, leaving Xu Jie with a last bit of face and still enough property to "support himself in his old age."

When Shen Shixing came to power, it was a completely different scene. Gao Youshi did not seem to like using common party struggles to deal with his opponents. He rarely took the initiative to arrange his subordinates to impeach officials of the School of Mind. Instead, he was keen to show the emperor the difference between the School of Mind and the School of Reality through his actual abilities.

Everything he did over the years was to prove to the emperor that the characteristic of our practical school is that we can get things done. As long as the emperor assigns us a task, we can complete it smoothly or even exceed the target.

He did not take the initiative to attack the School of Mind, but just kept accomplishing things, and this made the School of Mind wary. They were afraid that he would continue to accumulate huge reputation, so they had to find ways to sabotage what he wanted to accomplish - but this led to another paradox: what Gao Youshi wanted to do was what the emperor wanted to do, so if you sabotaged Gao Youshi's plan, you were essentially going against the emperor's will.

  As a result, the more such things happened, the more the emperor's dissatisfaction with the School of Mind accumulated. Once an incident unfavorable to the School of Mind occurred, the important officials who needed to "bear leadership responsibility" would submit their resignations according to the rules, and the emperor would simply agree to them - wasn't this how Shen Shixing stepped down?

Therefore, in Shen Yiquan's opinion, Gao Youshi was more difficult to deal with than Gao Gong. Gao Gong was indeed very powerful, but his way of doing things was still within the normal officialdom routine, and there were traces to follow and tricks to break.

What made Gao Youshi even more difficult to deal with was that he always kept his position consistent with that of the emperor - or conversely, he was always able to keep the emperor's position consistent with his own.

This is a problem. The emperor is the supreme arbitrator, and in theory he should be impartial in the struggle between the two factions, but Gao Youshi can always pull the emperor to stand with him, so how can the Xinxue School fight? "Are there any kings, princes, generals, or ministers of different species?" is not something that the Xinxue School is good at!

Now that the Confucius Temple incident has broken out, people within the School of Mind are in a panic. Seeing that one of the two elders of the School of Mind, Zhao Zhigao, has actually knelt, the only hope is Shen Yikuan. No matter who the officials of the School of Mind originally belonged to, they can only come to join Elder Shen Yikuan now.

Since the Confucius Temple incident broke out, in less than a month, Shen Yiquan has received more than a hundred private letters - note that these are only from people who are qualified to write to him, and many low-level officials have no way to surrender. However, this is not a big deal. No organization can allow disorderly "cross-level contacts", so the owners of these hundreds of letters are basically the majority of people who have a say in the Xinxue School.

At this point, Shen Yikuan had actually become the leader and party chief of the Xinxue School officials. The Confucius Temple incident severely damaged the reputation of the Xinxue School, but it lifted up Shen Yikuan's personal prestige. This is really the unpredictable world, with both good and bad sides.

The secret confrontation between Gao Youshi and Shen Yiquan was like a war without the smoke of gunpowder. Although there was no swordplay, the danger and complexity of the battle were no less than that of a real battlefield. The outcome of this war would directly affect the court structure of the Ming Dynasty and the future political direction.

But there is no need to rush to disperse at this moment, because Gao Youshi still has to express his position first: "The Ministry of Revenue has no objection to the above expenses. Tomorrow I will send a letter to Taicang to allocate the funds. Please ask Lord Shen to inform all parties to contact and collect them."

  Shen Yi Guan knew that today was not the end of the struggle, but he also felt that he had won the first battle. He bowed and smiled, "Your Excellency is wise and decisive, which is admirable. I would like to thank you on behalf of the officials and gentry of Jiangnan."
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